Behaalotecha (Shavuot)
Have you ever wondered why the very first of the Ten Commandments isn’t really a commandment at all? “I am the L‑rd your G‑d who took you out of the land of Egypt.” Okay. True. But what exactly is the commandment?
And yet, that first commandment says everything, encompasses everything, and is our foundation. Firstly, G‑d is clearly reminding us who is Boss. And just in case we weren’t sure, it was He who redeemed us from slavery. We did not leave Egypt, we were taken out.
But He is telling us something much greater. Our Creator is telling us that in our lives, each and every one of us may experience states of Egypt, times of darkness and limitation. We may feel trapped and rejected, and possibly abandoned. But we are never alone. He is letting us know from the get-go that when the going gets tough—and it may—He will be there for us. And He will take us out. For He is the L‑rd our G‑d, the One who took and will take us out of our Egypt. He is our Father and will always be there for us.
Let’s be open to receive the Torah again this Shavuot—and internalize its lessons for life!
Sara Esther Crispe,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
When introducing Himself to His people in the great event at Sinai, why did G‑d choose to understate His achievements?
After weeks of anticipation and preparation, would everything come to a halt merely because the people were weary?
On Shavuot we were given the Torah. Does it all boil down to bragging rights? Does it really matter who “owns” the Torah?
The secret story behind the mysterious circumstances of King David’s birth . . .
The right tablet contained 146 words; the left tablet, only 26 words. How did 26 words equal the space of 146 words?
Between work and managing a home, there was a part of me that craved something additional. Something I knew I possessed . . .
I tell him, frustrated, on the verge of tears, “I didn’t do anything this morning!”
Kids have a right to know the objective of the hours they spend in school. Sadly, often the message they get is misleading.
Yisroel stood in the doorway, snow encrusting his thick brown bangs. “My mother is still not here, and I’m frozen. Can I wait inside?”
Rabbi Chaim led Moshe Meshel and the coach driver to a clearing among the trees that seemed to be a ruin of some sort . . .
The poritz immediately launched preparations for a huge party for all the aristocrats in the region, with a “highly amusing surprise.”
In a small town somewhere in Eastern Europe lived a nice man with a nasty problem: he talked too much about other people . . .
We read in the Torah that Moses came down from the mountain with two tablets of stone, but what did they look like?
The menorah . . . a second Passover . . . desert encampments . . . complainers . . . G‑d appoints prophets . . . Miriam speaks ill.
The deeper meaning behind the menorah’s spatial alignment inside the Temple, and the identity of its miraculous “western lamp.”
Afterlife is a very rational, natural consequence of the order of things.
After all, nothing is ever lost—even the body only transforms into earth. But nothing is lost.
So too, the person you are is never lost. That person—that soul—only returns to its origin.
If your soul became acutely attached to the material worl...
